How Many People in the UK Support Fracking?

There’s no shortage of controversy surrounding fracking, and new research has revealed that the UK is one of its biggest critics. According to the latest research from the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s public attitudes tracker, British support for fracking has hit a new low. Today, just 19% of the public support the divisive energy extraction method. At the other end of the scale, support for renewable energy has soared. A huge 81% of people support the development of eco-friendly energy projects, a figure that represents a record high.

British celebrities join the fracking fight

The anti-fracking agenda has won the support of everyday Joes and A-list celebrities alike, with actress Emma Thompson making a high profile appearance at the Frack Free Bake Off. Organised by Greenpeace, the peaceful demonstration was held on Lancashire farmland that’s being pursued as a future fracking site for Cuadrilla Resources, a British owned shale gas explorer group.

“I’ve been aware of this issue for a while with my work with Greenpeace, and it came to a head for me when David Cameron went to the Paris climate conference and signed on to the protocol and then on the sly at Christmas, when nobody was looking, gave the nod to 200 fracking sites in Britain,” commented Thompson. “It proved to me our Government is saying one thing and doing the opposite.”

An ongoing anti-fracking trend

The report is refreshed every few months, with data from the past two years showing a steady decline in support for fracking. This is despite the fact that the British government is one of the industry’s biggest supporters, with plans to position shale gas as a keynote energy source.

A DEC spokesman comments that while there’s clear opposition for fracking and runaway support for renewables, there’s still plenty of confusion and fence sitting when it comes to public opinion.  

“These findings show that half of the people asked still don’t have a view on fracking, but more importantly that the vast majority (88%) said that they do not know a lot about it. This is exactly why we want people to have access to all the facts so they can see past the myths and understand the benefits which include greater energy security, more jobs and growth.”

Fracking isn’t the only extraction method sparking debate, with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) also attracting its fair share of controversy. ‘The Benefits of Thermal Desorption Coupled with Gas Chromatography for the Analysis of Hydrocarbon Residues in Liquefied Petroleum Gas’ explores the production process in further detail, looking at how innovative new technologies are enhancing the efficiency of the popular hydrocarbon fuel.